Each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,193,791 and 3,818,280 and 4,200,349 and 4,343,523 and 4,636,021 and 4,842,538, discloses a concept of staggering contact surfaces on contact elements of a printed circuit board edge connector in the mating direction of the printed circuit board, thereby to reduce the force needed to mate the circuit board with the connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,601 discloses a connector comprising contacts with oppositely bowed contact surfaces to engage opposite sides of contact fins on another mating connector. The contact surfaces are nearer and farther, respectively, from a mating end of the connector to reduce insertion forces during mating with the contact fins.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,875 discloses signal and power contacts mixed in one electrical connector, with the signal contacts being spaced farther from a mating end of the connector than the power contacts, to mate with another mating connector after the power contacts have mated with the mating connector.
The connector is constructed with a combination of multiple contact receiving cavities having different spacings from a mating end of the connector. A housing manufactured with one combination of cavities having different spacings from a mating end, is not adaptable to changes in the combination to accommodate different contact spacings. Manufacture of a separate housing is required for each different combination of contact spacings.
The contacts are fabricated with different lengths prior to being assembled in respective cavities of an electrical connector. The contacts of different lengths provide a combination of staggered contacts at different distances from a mating end of the connector. Manufacturing costs are higher to produce contacts that differ from one another in size, as compared with the cost of manufacturing contacts that are identical.